After 2007, I closed my antenna. The visions are now coming to my dreams. Before I went on a vacation early this year, i dreamed of losing my luggage. Then i saw a lot of unfamiliar faces.

It all happened. The scene was in Detroit airport. My luggage was dropped to the conveyor belt by my assistant before we learned that my flight has been cancelled. The Reagan Airport was closed due to winterstorm. The unfamiliar faces were those of Filipinos I met in the hotel where I checked in while waiting for the resumption of the flights. What was weird was when the woman in my dream asked for a medication from me. Yep, a woman who left her medication asked for a hypertension pill.

There were more but I rather not discuss them.

So you are asking me who is going to win in the presidential election? I rather not because there are things that are indicative of repeating history.

An egg-throwing melee in the Ukrainian parliament, the Rada, accompanied ratification of a controversial agreement to extend the lease of Russia's Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol for at least 25 years.

Free food, education
The independent presidential candidate expressed confidence that “the choice of the people will be the choice of the light... a person who is touched by God.Madrigal spends birthday on poor ‘island in city’

Monday, April 26, 2010

It was in 2005 when the talk about new houses bought dominated Filipino gatherings. Even the single-incomeslashminimumslash wage earners can afford to buy a $ 600,000 house which originally cost $ 150,000. No down payment, low interest for the first three years. All the while it was the real estate people who were making the killing. With overpriced houses, their commissions can afford them to buy Mercedez Benz Sports Car. You pity yourself when you are a fixed income-9-5 corporate slave.Ipapamukha pa saiyo. Kagaya ng kaibigan ko na nagkuwento na sinundo pa raw siya sa airport ng BMW. Parang gusto niyang sabihin wala kang BMW, hah. A year later, bankrupt na siya and my friend did not even bother to welcome her in her house when she made a visit. Friends!!!

A relative of a toxic person won't pick up the landline. He was applying for a home loan and the family pretended that they have a home-based business. Na wala naman. Para lang maapprove sa bangko.

Ngayon, I heard that all of the people I know (ang yayabang pa) lost their homes. Panalangin ko noon maparusahan ang mga home loan fixers. Ang daming inaway ako when I was advising some friedns not to buy if they do not have the money. Kasi ang palaging reason nila, tutubo sila pagtumaas ang halaga ng bahay. Kumita nga sila but it is not even enough to pay for interests which had gone up after the low interest-period had passed.

US Attorney Joseph Russoniello was quoted by media as saying last week that between 2005 and 2009, the suspects were “obtaining or using false documents to submit to lenders, exaggerating [loan applicants’] income and assets, understating [their] liabilities, and providing false employment records and/or false banking information [of applicants].”

Schadler added that the loans arranged and facilitated by the accused, using fraudulent documentation, amounted to at least $10 million and have all since defaulted.

Dear insansapinas,He tried to help but was stabbed instead. No one helped him as he was lying on the pavement dying, except for an immigrant.

NEW YORK - The homeless man lay face down, unmoving, on the sidewalk outside an apartment building, blood from knife wounds pooling underneath his body.

One person passed by in the early morning. Then another, and another. Video footage from a surveillance camera shows at least seven people going by, some turning their heads to look, others stopping to gawk. One even lifted the homeless man's body, exposing what appeared to be blood on the sidewalk underneath him, before walking away.

It wasn't until after the 31-year-old Guatemalan immigrant had been lying there for nearly an hour that emergency workers arrived, and by then, it was too late. Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax — who police said was stabbed while intervening to help a woman being attacked — had died.

I admired Dr. Martin Bautista when he run for senator or congressman, the last time he made balikbayan in the Philippines. He is a green card holder.

When I read his advocacy, the statue fell into pieces. Good intention but clueless. He should have taken a crash course in Public Administration.

Imagine, his suggestion: roll eyes.

he wants to reduce the infrastructure budget by 90% and redirect the money to increase salaries of health workers, teachers, and policemen to curb the migration of qualified workers. He wants to raise the pay of nurses to a minimum of P20,000 a month to give them just compensation for the health risk they are subjected to on a daily basis.

Just so he can get the vote of these people, he's promising heaven which is not possible. Does he know what these infrastructures are? you got the roads, bridges, water supply, power grids, telecommunications, schools, hospitals. etc.

Independent presidential candidate Senator Maria Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal threatened on Thursday to go on a hunger strike with a farmers’ group unless the Commission on Elections agrees to conduct a parallel manual count of votes in next month’s automated election.

Why even allow Jamby to run for election when it is obvious that she does not intend to win? She allegedly joined the presidential race to demonize Villar. Mahanap nga ang kaniyang sungay at buntot. bwahahaha

“We have to be more open-minded. This is not the time to harbor ill feelings. We can’t afford to be ill-tempered. There is no point in that. We have to be calm especially in the last few days when the nightmare scenarios could happen. We cannot be hotheaded,” Aquino said at a press conference.

For me he is like a coconut. A coconut has a husk which is bigger than the fruit itself and a shell which is hard to crack to protect the soft meat and water inside.

Just like the coconut, Noynoy has also a lot of handlers to protect him from himself. hehehe, o kaya parang si Randy Santiago noon na may hawi boys. At si Manny Pacquiao na may team Pacquiao. Ang tawag yata diyan ay cordon sanitaire. Sinasanitized ang mga makakarating sa kaniya at yong manggaling sa kaniya na ikasisira sa Project ng maraming taong may vested interest--The Making of a president who is not even a presidentiable. Wheeeee.

1. When he declared that he is not going to impose new taxes. My face turned into my face-that-I-am-not-impressed (that is raised one brow, mouth locked from corner to corner and eyes rolled sideways.

May be one of the hawi boys (cordon sanitaire ) told him that it is not possible, silly. Kaya bigla siyang atras. Taxes are not only meant for revenues, dahlings. It is also for restriction and protection purposes for the country's economy. Sometimes, these taxes serve as barriers for entry in a crowded market.

3. Hacienda Luisita was bought using the loans granted to the Cojuangcos on the condition that it will be distributed to the farmers after ten years.

It's been decades and the Hacienda Luisita is still with the Cojuangcos who have gained a lot from the farm. In the meantime, the farmers had died poor and their children are still waiting. Why distribute it only in 2014?

4. I have dealt with people with disorder. When depression takes over, they could not function. So to me, the mental health of the presidentiable is crucial to leadership. Granting that the psychological evaluation report is bogus, his reactionto some negative news are not a character of a person who can lead 90 million people.

1. when I read the news that de Venecia and Ramos are thinking of coalition with Noynoy's LP. So?

Si De Venecia ba naman. Kung saan mabango ang hangin doon siya. Duh.

2. When I watched the video clip of Katy Gosselin entitled TV teary breakdown of Katy, showing teary eyed Katy Gosselin trying to earn sympathy for being a single mom to more than a dozen children...blah blah while wiping the tears rolling down her smoothed well-made-up cheeks with her beautifully manicured hands. Is that for her book that would come out or for getting votes as Dancing with the Stars participant? Frankly, she does not know how to dance. It is similar to holding an electric pole and trying to make it bend and sashay.

I want to cry too but then I looked at my fingers. They are not beautifully manicured. These PR people. They want you to cry for their clients who do not want to lose their luxurious lifestyle. Duh.

3. When I read this headline...LJ Reyes plans to give birth in the U.S. my eyes did not stop rollin' . Bakit gustong maging citizen ang anak?

Why are they so proud of getting pregnant out of wedlock? It is not because I am a moral guardian but to use being pregnant as a publicity, sure makes me roll eyes skyward 'till you can not see the black part. There was even a piece of news in a broadsheet...sino ba siya? Ewan ko. Hindi naman kasi ako nanonood ng TFC at GMA. Then she said, binigay ng Diyos daw.

Sana sabihin ng Diyos. Ah wala akong kinalaman diyan. Remember Janice de Belen when she said something about her pregnancy with her son with Aga Muhlach? Yong kasama raw ba nila ang Diyos nang ginagawa nila yon ? Am not sure about the exact comment. 4. When I read how Isabel what's her name again Lopez, the former Bb. Pilipinas who became more popular in the "FF" soft porn movies at the Film Center of the Philippines (was that the haunted building because of people who were buried alive during its construction?) lambasted the Bb. Pilipinas Charities...nah nah, I am not a fan of beauty contests) but to use that as a promotion of the Working Girls, ang tapang naman ng apog nila. Kasama na si Ruffa Gutierrez.

TEHRAN—A senior Iranian cleric has claimed that dolled-up women incite extramarital sex, causing more earthquakes in Iran, a country that straddles several fault lines, newspapers reported on Saturday."Many women who dress inappropriately ... cause youths to go astray, taint their chastity and incite extramarital sex in society, which increases earthquakes," Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi told worshippers at Tehran Friday prayer."Calamities are the result of people's deeds," he was quoted as saying by reformist Aftab-e Yazd newspaper.

photocredit:MSNBCMy diva moment, almost

While we were stranded in Detroit last February, I happened to sit near a man who was finger-drumming on his attache case. He must have been so absorbed in his own music that he did not mind if the people were looking at him. One lady almost stood up to give him some coins. Must be force of habit when she sees street musicians near subways.

Me, I almost stood up from my seat and blurt a high note that would have made Regine Velasquez winced. Ala diva. Almost.

Dear insansapinas,I finished the book...ermmm, not yet. It has to be edited first...there are also the table of contents, the index, the bibliography and the appendixes.

I have one or two days to do that and I can start reading the book of Mitch Albom (Tuesdays with Morrie) entitled Have a Little Faith. And of course five James Paterson novels, one Kathy Reichs' (producer of Bones series) and a new novel from Clive Cussler. Yay

In an exclusive phone interview with PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) editor Karen Pagsolingan yesterday, April 12, the actress and TV host said she is pulling her two-year-old son "out of the limelight."

Kris said the decision was reached after Baby James blurted out 'Villar!' in a campaign sortie for her brother, Sen. Noynoy Aquino on March 29. Sen. Manny Villar's camp immediately jumped on the issue, saying Baby James was "secretly endorsing" Villar. They were also willing to award Baby James a watch from Technomarine. (CLICK HERE to read related story)

"It's a realization for us that he's a child, so let him be a child... Since he is only two years old, magti-three next week, we should give and allow him to enjoy his childhood. Something that didn't happen for me, because dad was in jail, it was martial law, so ako, I was really exposed super early. But since hindi naman tayo martial law ngayon, so I suggest, allow him to really enjoy his childhood," she explained.

It was not early naman. I think she was already seven years old. It was not even showbiz. She was just made to campaign for her dad while he was in prison.

Kris said Baby James will not anymore be seen in her primetime soap opera Kung Tayo'y Magkakalayo. Baby James plays Kris's son.

"I already pulled him out kasi our decision is, if we want him spared from all of this, kick him out of the limelight... Baby James made a mistake, I explained to him what the mistake is, but of course he's two. As a mother, I took upon myself na I protect him," she said.

Why is she insisting na nagkamali yong bata. Baby Janes may not be even aware what vore means o iboboto?

Friday, April 16, 2010

I have watched several episodes of Law and Order but except for one or two, I never came to know who the killer is or how the case ended. It is because I am multitasking--watching TV, writing the book and doing things that are in my to-do list. Frankly, the reason why I am in front of the TV is because I do not want to work in my desk which is in my bedroom. The bed beckons me to take a shut eye every now and then.

Now I found out that it is not my fault if I write, watch TV and burn the sinigang na baboy because I forgot all about it as I tried to check if the exercises I prepared at the end of the chapter of the book I am writing is difficult enough to make the students think. That's how many tasks? three. Include my bird-watching-shooing-activity and that makes it four.

I know I am the talk of the bird community in our place--the mean woman who checks the birds that come to roost at the beam of our balcony.

I did not beat the deadline. I am late by 15 days. My friend asked me if it will be accepted. Oh I don't care if they won't. Nobody was able to prepare one. I enjoyed writing it because it gives me a sense of accomplishment instead of merely reading and blogging--activities which for others is just a wish because they have their family to attend to or to report to their 9-5 corporate "slavery" .Anyway, I still have a few learning objectives to write before every chapter and there is the conversion of word to pdf. Arghhh.

Why am writing this?

A study conducted that the brain can only do two tasks at the same time. Aleluyah. So that means, I am normal. No psychiatric evaluation needed. theehehehe

For those who find it tough to juggle more than a couple things at once, don't despair. The brain is set up to manage two tasks, but not more, a new study suggests.

That's because, when faced with two tasks, a part of the brain known as the medial prefrontal cortex divides so that half of the region focuses on one task and the other half on the other task. This division of labor allows a person to keep track of two tasks pretty readily, but if you throw in a third, things get a bit muddled.

Oh excuse me while I get the broom to drive away the three pigeons that perched in my patio. It's been days that I have not taken my cough medicines for my allergy. So I am thinking that I am also allergic to these fine-feathered enemies of mine.

Dear insansapinas,
I thought it was honorable for Manny V. Pangilinan to offer resignation from the Board of Ateneo when his speeches in this year's commencement exercises in Ateneo were discovered to have been plagiarized. But according to Katrina Stuart Santiago, the plagiarism can be traced as far back as 2007. Did he have the same speech writer?

His speech in Xavier University where he was conferred with honorary degree in April 2007.

MVP said:

"As for myself, I have always believed in the strenuous life, in the life of labor and effort. The highest form of success comes not to the man who desires easy peace or inherits instant wealth, but to the man who does not shrink from risks, from hardship, or from bitter toil."

I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.

"I just want you to do me a favor. Just one favor. Exercise your right to dream. Sure, you must face reality — that which is. But dream of a reality that ought to be — that must be. I want you to be what John F. Kennedy wanted himself to be — ‘an idealist without any illusions.’ You may or may not get there, but know that you must try. And you hold on, and hold out. Our country will be better for it. Insist on heroes. Become one."-Martin Luther King

"PLDT CEO: MANNY PANGILINAN'S PRESCRIPTION FOR SUCCESS
MANILA, APRIL 14, 2007 (STAR) By Sharon L. Flores - In the course of his legendary 30-year career, he has borne many titles: managing director, president, CEO and chairman of the board. He is even dubbed the "most valuable player" in the telecommunications industry. Now, he can add "doctor" to his illustrious credentials.

Last March 23, PLDT and Smart chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan was conferred a doctorate in the humanities, honoris causa, by Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan for his achievements in business and management, exemplary leadership, unflinching commitment to country and integrity. The honorary doctorate degree was presented by university president Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin SJ during the institution’s 68th commencement exercise.
More than 1,500 graduates had a rare audience with Pangilinan, whose leadership steered PLDT to become the dominant telecommunications company in the Philippines while serving as CEO and managing director of international holdings behemoth First Pacific Company Limited and chairman of Metro Pacific Corporation.
During the academic convocation, he exhibited candor and humility in receiving the honor. His speech was peppered with insights as he talked about the simple yet important life lessons he gleaned through years of work, travel and life experiences.
Unknown to his young audience, Pangilinan has been to Cagayan de Oro previously. It was in his early days as a sales trainee when he used to crisscross Mindanao, from Davao to Zamboanga, all the way to Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Sulu. Like some of them, he was a student who came from humble beginnings and got by on meager means. Before he graduated from Ateneo de Manila, he expressed his desire to take up his MBA abroad but his family couldn’t afford it. He had to join a nationwide competition to see his dream through. He won the coveted scholarship to Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the world’s top business schools.
The graduates were also surprised to know that Pangilinan is among the millions of Filipinos who have braved foreign shores for better and more lucrative opportunities.
"For those of you thinking of working abroad, I can indeed relate to your dream, because I was an OCW myself," he revealed. "I left the country for a number of reasons. I regarded my career here to lie at a dead end, with prospects for the company I worked for as being limited and confining. I wanted a fresh and exciting career. There was, of course, the attraction of a better pay offshore. And while our extended family system gave me a lot of comfort and warmth, I wanted to be accountable to myself, to stand on my own, and be independent."
He detailed how, as an OFW in Hong Kong in 1981, he was tasked to grow an investment firm starting with only six people, 50 square meters of office space and meager capital. That company was First Pacific, currently employing around 80,000 people across Southeast Asia, with a robust portfolio that includes Indofoods, the largest noodle maker in the world and the largest food company in Indonesia; and, of course, PLDT, the No. 1 telco in the Philippines.
As for the secrets of success, the graduates were all ears to Pangilinan’s revelations.
"When it comes to success, there are no secrets, no magic, no mystery. Success springs from old-fashioned values — values as basic as being honest and truthful, especially with yourself. Values as essential as working hard, playing fair, and seeking no harm on others.
"Yet, if I were to identify which qualities in a person best substantiate success, I would say that it is the spirit of enterprise and the passionate determination to succeed. Regrettably, the problem we as a people face today is precisely the converse of enterprise and passion — and these are apathy and (the desire for) the ‘sure thing’ — segurista at bahala na.
"As for myself, I have always believed in the strenuous life, in the life of labor and effort. The highest form of success comes not to the man who desires easy peace or inherits instant wealth, but to the man who does not shrink from risks, from hardship, or from bitter toil."
By this part of the speech, the crowd is hanging on to his every word, laughing at every joke, nodding at every turn, absorbing whatever they can.
It was during this time that he unveiled his life lessons, culled from years of trial and error on the path to right living. He broke it down to five simple steps, all grounded on truth and plain common sense, that he urged his listeners to practice and take to heart.
"First, hug and kiss whoever helped get you — financially, emotionally, intellectually, morally — to this day. Don’t let the sun go down today without saying thank you to someone, and without admitting to yourself that absolutely no one gets this far, alone.
"Second, don’t forget that you have a body under your toga. Take good care of it.
"Third, don’t forget that you have brains at your disposal. If I show up at your house 10 years from now and find nothing in your living room but Readers’ Digest, nothing on your bedroom night table but pirated DVDs, and nothing in your bathroom but tabloids, I’ll be mightily disappointed. That would be a waste of your education here at Xavier. Try to remember that there’s more to life than Pinoy Big Brother or American Idol, more than Boom Tarat-Tarat or Itaktak Mo!
"Fourth, give away one peso for every P10 you make. Why? I saw my mother pass away five years ago, and she left this world without anything. Which means you’re not the owner of what you think you own. You’re only a steward because everything’s on loan. So pass some of it on.
"Fifth, stay in the Philippines. I was born here and I will die here. It’s true that I spent some years of my life abroad, but I have returned to give a part of my life back to this country, and the place to start giving back is the place where you are right now — Cagayan de Oro. But if you do decide to depart our sunny shores for greener pastures abroad, may there always be a part of you that will remain enduringly Filipino. And may you perennially possess that durable sense of longing to come home one day — just as I did."
Instead of the traditional closing, where one can be easily caught making sweeping statements, Pangilinan opted for down-to-earth brevity. To his eager audience, he chimed in one last request. "I just want you to do me a favor. Just one favor. Exercise your right to dream. Sure, you must face reality — that which is. But dream of a reality that ought to be — that must be. I want you to be what John F. Kennedy wanted himself to be — ‘an idealist without any illusions.’ You may or may not get there, but know that you must try. And you hold on, and hold out. Our country will be better for it. Insist on heroes. Become one."

Currently, Pangilinan serves as chairman of the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), an institution dedicated to uplifting Filipinos through micro-financed entrepreneurship, scholarships and outreach. He has taken the Makati Medical Center under his wing as chairman. He is also busy bringing Internet access to schools by donating Smart Labs under the Smart Schools Program. The initiative implemented through the PBSP, with the support of the Department of Education and Microsoft’s Partners in Learning Program, donates computer stations equipped with DSL or WiFi broadband plus teacher training to public schools and chosen educational institutions. During his trip to Cagayan, he donated two Smart Bro Labs, one at Xavier University and the other at the Misamis Oriental Comprehensive High School.
As an avid sportsman, Pangilinan is committed to bringing sports to the youth. He is one of the vanguards of badminton in the country. The annual MVP Cup Intercontinental Badminton Championship allows Filipinos to witness world-class play from the finest players in Asia against the best in Europe. He is also the president of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas. In his brief visit to Xavier University, he made a personal donation to upgrade their sports facilities.
In 2005, he was recognized as Management Man of the Year by the Management Association of the Philippines and Man of the Year by BizNews Asia. He was also bestowed the Distinguished World Class Businessman Award by the Association of Makati Industries in the same year. In 2006, Pangilinan was honored the Order of Lakandula, rank of Komandante by the Office of the President of the Philippines. Most recently, he received the CEO (Communication Excellence in Organizations) EXCEL Award from the International Association of Business Communicators.

Faith is my life

Healing Prayer

For the good times

I can see clearly now

Ghost

Life is like water

Pinaysaamerika

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About the Blog

This is a blog about the adventures and misadventures of a Filipina in the US of A who wants to save the world from clutches of evil but is too lazy to don her costume. It also includes her reminisces of her journey of life in her birth country. Sinimulan ko ito ng 2004 at pansamantalang iniwan ng magbukas ako ng marami pang blogs katulad ng Now What, Cat?. Ngayon na pinahihinga ko ang aking pusa, dito naman ako nanggugulo.